Fri.’s Devo - The Tenth Plague - God Wins!

Read: Exodus 12:14-13:16; Matthew 20:29-21:22; Psalm 25:16-22; Proverbs 6:12-15 The first day of Unleavened bread was the day they left the land of Egypt and was to be celebrated every year after that. It was the fourteenth day of the month and started at evening. They were to eat no unleavened bread for a week. That night they were to eat the passover lamb they had selected on the 10th. They were to take hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in a basin under the doorpost. With the hyssop they were to smear the blood of the lamb on the sides and top of the door posts. This was the sign for the Lord to pass over their house and not kill their firstborn. This blood made the cross. Blood at the bottom in the bowl was where Jesus feet were nailed. At the top where he wore the crown of thorns and the sides where he was nailed. They were safe because they passed through the door of the cross into salvation. *** That night at midnight the tenth plague hit Egypt as the death angel flew over the land of Egypt, killing all the firstborn child and animals of all who lived in Egypt. *** God told Moses to get the people and leave that night. They were to take everything, even the dough before it had leavened and the gold and silver that the Egyptians had given them. They plundered Egypt of its wealth. They traveled to Succoth which means “booths”. They left exactly 430 years from the day they had come. *** God told them to “consecrate” or “set apart” all the firstborn and the firstborn males shall be the Lord’s. They must be redeemed. The firstborn of a donkey had to be redeemed with a lamb. If you don’t want to redeem it, you must break its neck. *** The firstborn has to do with a person’s first birth which is natural. To be set apart to the Lord, that person has to be “born again” - redeemed. *** Pharaoh was the donkey who was stubborn and refused to repent through all the nine plagues. So, his neck had to be broken by the loss of his firstborn. It took this to make him let God’s people free. *** In Matthew, when Jesus and his disciples left Jericho, they met two blind men who were sitting on the side of the road. When they heard it was Jesus coming, they began shouting for Jesus to have mercy on them. They called him “Son of David” indicating that they knew he was the Messiah. Jesus stopped and asked them what they wanted and they said, “to see”. Jesus healed them and they began following him. *** They stopped at Bethpage which means “green fig house”. This is where Jesus stayed until his disciples brought him a donkey to ride into town. It had been prophesied that the Messiah would come to them riding on a donkey. Jesus had ridden into Bethlehem in the womb of Mary who rode on a donkey. Now he would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey. *** The disciples put their own clothes for Jesus to sit on and the crowd laid out their clothes for Jesus to walk on and sang the Hallel from Psalm 115-118. They always sang these songs as they traveled to Jerusalem every festival. They were at the part where it says “Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Psalm 118:25. *** Jesus entered the temple and cleansed it of the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. Figuratively he was destroying the platforms and those who sat in the seats of those platforms. The merchants were stealing from the people deceitfully and selling them false religion. The Temple which was supposed to be a house of prayer had become a den of thieves. The leaders saw the miracles that Jesus was doing and the response from the people and questioned Jesus about it. He asked them if they had ever read the Scriptures… he could have stopped there, but he continued. The scriptures teach that perfect praise comes from the children and infants. He was quoting Psalm 8:2 and the rest of the sentence is “because of thine enemies, that thou might still the enemy and the avenger.” They, being the enemy and the avenger. *** Jesus returned to Bethany and the next morning on his way back to Jerusalem, he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went to see if it had any figs but it only had leaves. He cursed it and it immediately dried up. This fig tree represented Israel. They were not bearing fruit when he came to them, so they would die fruitless. *** When the disciples saw what Jesus did to the fig tree they asked how it died so quickly. Jesus told them that if they had faith, they could do this and more. They could even move mountains into the sea. It is all done with faith. *** What Jesus was demonstrating was the power to destroy the enemy. The leaves of the fig tree were suppose to be for healing of nations. Jesus destroyed their leaves because they were not healing but bringing disease and death. Leaves were also used for covering sin… remember in the Garden. The leaders in the synagogue used their position and rituals to hide their evil hearts. Jesus was saying to them that they had the power to defeat evil and to expose the enemies’ covering. All they had to do was to have faith. *** God is exposing the enemies plans and lies in America. *** By faith, we call all their plans to wither like this fig tree. We pray for God’s seed of his kingdom to grow and cover the earth with righteousness and goodness. May we have faith to see it.